CAS rejects Russian bid to participate in Olympic Games

Share this:

In this Feb. 15, 2014, file photo, men’s 1,000-meter short track speedskating gold medalist Viktor Ahn, of Russia, gestures while holding his medal during the medals ceremony at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Sports’ highest court rejected appeals by all 45 Russian athletes, including the six-time gold medalist, plus two coaches who were banned from the Pyeongchang Olympics over doping concerns in a decision announced Friday, less than nine hours before the opening ceremony. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

GANGNEUNG, South Korea — The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed an appeal by banned six-time Olympic short track speedskating champion Viktor Ahn and other Russian athletes and coaches seeking to take part in the Olympic Games.

The CAS decision came just hours before the Games’ opening ceremony later Friday night and avoided a showdown between the International Olympic Committee and CAS over the participation of the banned Russian athletes in South Korea the next two weeks.

“We welcome this decision which supports the fight against doping and brings clarity for all athletes,” the IOC said Friday.

A cloud of uncertainty had hovered over the final days of the run-up to the Games after CAS overturned last week an IOC decision in December to ban 28 Russian athletes for life and strip them of their results at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi after an IOC investigation showed the athletes took part in a widespread doping system orchestrated and financed by the highest level of Russian sport.

In two appeals to CAS this week 45 Russian athletes and two coaches asked the Switzerland-based tribunal to overturn the IOC decision not to invite them to the Olympic Games. One-hundred-sixty-nine Russian athletes will compete in Pyeongchang under the banner of “Olympic Athletes from Russia” after they passed an IOC vetting process that was a requirement for their participation in South Korea. The return of the Seoul-born Ahn had been one of the most anticipated events of the Games before the IOC ban.

IOC president Thomas Bach and other top IOC officials criticized the CAS decision this week but would not say what action they would take if the tribunal overturned the bans.

Instead a three-member panel led by Canada’s Carol Roberts rejected both appeals.

“In its decisions, the CAS arbitrators have considered that the process created by the IOC to establish an invitation list of Russian athletes to compete as Olympic athletes from Russia (OAR) could not be described as a sanction but rather as an eligibility decision,” CAS said in a statement. “Although the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was suspended, the IOC nevertheless chose to offer individual athletes the opportunity to participate in the Winter Games under prescribed conditions – a process that was designed to balance the IOC’s interest in the global fight against doping and the interests of individual athletes from Russia.

“At the hearing, the Applicants acknowledged that the IOC had the ability to institute such process.The CAS Panel found that the Applicants did not demonstrate that the manner in which the two special commissions (the Invitation Review Panel (IRP) and the Olympic Athlete from Russia Implementation Group (OAR IG) independently evaluated the Applicants was carried out in a discriminatory, arbitrary or unfair manner. The Panel also concluded that there was no evidence the IRP or the OAR IG improperly exercised their discretion.”

Scott M. Reid is a sports enterprise/investigative reporter for the Orange County Register. He also covers Olympic and international sports as well as the Los Angeles’ bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games. His work for the Register has led to investigations by the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. Department of Education, the California Legislature, and the national governing bodies for gymnastics and swimming. Reid's 2011 reporting on wide spread sexual abuse within USA Gymnastics and the governing body's failure to effectively address it led to Don Peters, coach of the 1984 record-setting Olympic team, being banned from the sport for life. His reporting also prompted USA Gymnastics to adopt new guidelines and policies dealing with sexual abuse. Reid's 2012 and 2013 reporting on sexual abuse within USA Swimming led to the banishment of two top level coaches. Reid has won 11 Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting since 1999. He has also been honored by APSE for game writing, and enterprise, news, and beat reporting. He was an Investigative Reporters and Editors award finalist in 2002 and 2003. Prior to joining the Register in 1996, Reid worked for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Dallas Times Herald. He has a B.A. in the History of the Americas from the University of Washington.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.